Priceless
by RoseInWhite
Summary: In a society where beauty and fashion mean everything, to the point where each person is marked with a dollar amount, can one young girl rebel against the system, and show that there is more to a person than what meets the eye?
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

$694. Six hundred ninety-four dollars. That is what the large black number on my left wrist reads. That is how much I am worth.

I look up to face myself in the mirror. I have just rolled out of bed, so I look absolutely terrible. Appearance is everything to society, so I need to look my absolute best. Everything depends on the amount on your wrist, and a big part of that number is looking good. Major changes in the way you dress, look, or act are the only things that can make your price go up, but not looking your best will make it drop quickly.

Half an hour later, my layered brown hair is straightened, my long eyelashes coated in mascara, and my lips are a natural pink color. Blush and foundation help my general appearance as well. I chose a smokey eye look today.

Another twenty minutes and I have chosen my clothing for the day as well. I am wearing a pair of black skinny jeans with lots of zippers paired with a top that has a black outline of a tree on it. I slip on some black heels with crossing straps and a silver set of bracelets, and I am ready to head out to start my day.

A glance at my wrist reveals that I am still valued at $694. Not surprising. If it were to change, that would mean something major was going on to get me more popularity, and nothing special is happening today.

Here is a quick background on me: Brinley Lane Glass. I am 16, with light brown wavy hair and the darkest brown eyes you have ever seen. I live in a house with my mom and dad, Lilian and Scot Glass. Our place is in the middle of Essira, the area in which I go to school, live, and will one day work. Here, everything is run by appearance and the number that is on your wrist, and that number is based on your popularity and style. I am now in the second of my two years of Upper Years in school. I finish in two months.

I head down the stairs and to my right, ending up in the kitchen. My parents have left for work already, and I am an only child, so I am alone in the house. My heels make a satisfying click on the dark hardwood floors. I grab my breakfast, a single red apple, and step into the scanner. After a few seconds, it pings, letting me know that my outfit for today is acceptable. If it were to find my clothing choice unfashionable, I would be forced to change into something better.

On my way out the door, I pick up my Tab. I tap the center of the circular ring of metal, waking it up. The screen buzzes to life when it recognizes my face, and the permanent chip in my ear says, "Hello, Brinley Glass" in a monotonous voice. Everyone has a chip that is synced to their Tab. I pull up the Top Looks section for today. No surprise, but the big look for today is by Lelahni C. I look below her picture to find that she is worth about $3,200. Most people never even reach $1,000 in their lifetime.

After checking today's new looks, I continue towards the shuttle stop. I am old enough to drive my own hovercraft, but they are expensive, and I haven't saved enough yet.

I soon arrive and find my best friend, Kaden, standing near a fountain. He is tapping his foot, probably listening to music. When I walk over and tap his shoulder, he jumps. Yep, definitely music. He silences the music, and we make small talk. He and his family are doing well, and his two twin sisters are turning four next month.

The hovershuttle arrives, and we board onto it. As we fly through the city, I watch out the window for awhile, until Kaden taps my shoulder. I look his way, and he seems a bit off. He points to his wrist, and instead of saying $703 like it usually does, it reads $726. Something big is going on. I check my own left wrist, but my number has remained at a constant $694. Before I have time to think too much about it, though, we pull up to the school. Time to get to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

I enter the school and head over to my locker. I retrieve my Chip, which stores the information for my books so that I can view them on my Tab, and my Note, which has a blank screen for me to write on. Well, I don't really write on it. More like I think what I should write and it appears on the screen. They tell us that people used to have to actually write things, which made them much less efficient. They had to have four years of Upper Years instead of just two. And everyone knew how to print. I know how, because I took that class. I needed another half credit. But most people don't know how to print. Crazy to think that people once had to do that all the time.

I arrive at my first class, and I set my Note onto the desk. As I plug my Chip, a small black electronic, into my Tab, I notice that the number on my wrist is different. Instead of saying $694, it reads $682. I quickly pull up the InterFace program on my Tab to figure out why this has happened. I check, but I have not lost popularity, nor has my outfit gone out of style. I don't understand what is going on.

As I ponder what is happening, the teacher begins to tell us about the Revolt. Ugh, we have heard this story a million times, but it is required to be covered by every history class each year of school. The story is that long ago, people were very angry with each other, and would often fight in what they called "war". The Revolt happened when each nation tried to show that they were better than the others. They would send giant explosives to kill thousands of people. We have learned from this that banding together is necessary, which is why those who are the most popular will be the best off in this world. Eventually, there was too much radiation from the bombs, and almost everyone died. The only people to survive were in a protected area that we now call home, Essira. The whole area is surrounded by walls that stretch so far into the sky that they seem to never end, and on one of the walls is the Gate. The Gate is the entrance and exit from here. There are tales of rogue groups who leave this city, but they are likely untrue. Technically, we are allowed to leave at any point. There are no guards or anything to stop us. No one leaves, though, because it is common belief that the radiation is still too toxic to leave. Leaving the safety of Essira would surely be a death sentence. And that is the story of how we came to be. Everyone here knows it like the back of their hand.

Finally, class ends, and I can leave to go to lunch. There are only two classes per day, since we only need to learn history and fashion. Math and science are unnecessary in this world, because computers and robots have far surpassed the human capability in those areas. And there is no reason to learn to write or read ancient literature since we have Notes and corruption tints old writings. Occasionally, we study those books in history class. They are quite strange. One of the funniest was a book called the Bible. It was a whole big book of simple magic tricks, talking to no one, and worshiping a dead man.

When I arrive at the lunch room, I notice that today we will be having a red meal. Meals are colored based on the qualities they have. With the rotation constantly going, we always get the right nutrients at just the right time. There are six nutrients that we need. These are carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water. Carbohydrates are green meals. Protein is found in red meals. Fats are in the purple meals, with vitamins being blue. Lastly, minerals are in yellow meals. Water is the only liquid that we take into our bodies unless it is medicine. The scientist robots have figured out how to make each of those classes turn into their respective color so that foods of that color have that nutrient.

I grab my plate of red food and go sit down by Kaden and Ashley. Kaden has been my best friend since we were very young, and Ashley joined our group when we started Middle Years.

That is when my worst nightmare comes true. Ashley gets up to get more water, and she accidentally knocks her food all over me. My white shirt is now stained red. My price is going to go down so much. I vaguely hear Ashley apologizing before I mumble an "It's okay" before I excuse myself. I quickly run to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, I get all of the stain that I can out of my shirt, but some of it just will not wash out. I glance down at my wrist to see the damage, but my price has gone up more than it was before. It is now at $707! What is going on?!

It is not a moment later that I hear Ashley come into the restroom and say, "I'm so sorry, Brin. I really didn't mean to. If there is anything I can do to help just-"

"It's totally fine," I cut her off.

"But I ruined your shirt. Your price must have dropped," She counters.

I lower my voice, "Look, Ashley. It reads $712. Just a minute ago it said $707. Before that it had dropped to $682, and it hasn't been normal since this morning. I don't know if Kaden told you, but his went up, too. It was at $726 last I heard, and that is way more than his usual $703."

Her eyes widen in surprise and her jaw hangs slightly open after she checks her own wrist. With her blonde hair and striking green eyes, she has always been the most valuable one in our group, with a usual price of $736.

"Mine says $725. What is going on?" she asks.

"I'm not sure," I tell her, "but we need to find out."

Just then the bell rings, signaling the end of our school day. Since today is Friday, the weekend has officially started. Yay! We leave the bathroom and she walks to the left down the hallway while I go right, since she has her own hovercar. Lucky. I catch a glimpse of Kaden's dark brown hair and jog up to meet him.

"Hey," I say.

"Sorry about your outfit," he replies.

"Nah, it's okay. My price actually went up," I tell him.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah," I answer, "but I think something weird is going on. Mine dropped a lot earlier today, and now it has gotten up higher than it has ever been, while it should have been lower than usual. And Ashley's went down."

He doesn't reply, just nods with a serious look on his face. We board the hovershuttle, and continue to ride home in silence. I look out my window and see the Gate. It is an arch that seems to come up from nowhere and continues way into the sky. Definitely intimidating.

We turn a corner and the Gate fades out of my view. I have to wonder if it has something to do with these fluctuations. Dad might know. He works at the Value Center. Maybe their systems are messed up or something. I guess I will ask him when he gets home.

We pull up to the hovershuttle stop and unload. I hug Kaden goodbye and continue to my house. I am super tired, so I am so glad that it is Friday. I need a weekend of rest. But no matter how much I need it, I don't think I will get the rest I need this evening. Something feels off, and I can tell it is going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Once I get home, I walk back through the sensor and it lets me know that I need to change. _Well, gee, thanks. Because I didn't know that I have a giant red stain on my white shirt_. But I follow its orders anyway, because it's one thing to be out in public when something happens and have no way to change it, but it's another to ignore a fashion emergency when it can be fixed.

I head upstairs to my room, checking my wrist as I go. For some reason, it hasn't fluctuated in awhile, and it has even returned to $694, as per usual. I am so glad that there doesn't seem to be a big issue. I have heard about times when the systems at the Value Center have malfunctioned. Never this badly before, but minor things, like prices going away when the computers shut down for too short of a time for many people to notice before the systems rebooted and worked like a charm. This was probably just something like that. Just in case, though, I send out a message on my Tab to Ashley and Kaden to ask them how they are doing.

Once I reach the top of the flight of stairs and enter my room, I look through my closet for a few moments before deciding that I am too tired to pair clothes. Instead, I tell my SmartCloset program to pick something that goes with my makeup, since I really do not have the time or energy to redo that. I would keep my shoes and pants the same, but changing some but not all of your outfit is basically a crime here in Essira.

Soon, two coat hangers and a pair of shoes emerge from my closet. I am somewhat surprised at how summer-y this combination is. Here, our temperature and humidity are controlled by a, impenetrable shield that surrounds our city, but the ancient seasons of summer and winter still play a big role in fashion. Well, I guess the shield isn't completely impenetrable, just everywhere but the Gate, where no one really knows how, but you can just walk through the shield.

I slip on the mid-thigh-length white dress with a lacy flower-like pattern and the elbow-length charcoal-colored sweater with an open weave that is almost fishnet-like. Lastly, I slide on some black wedge sandals with lots of intertwining leather straps. I admire myself in the mirror for a bit before turning off the SmartCloset program and shutting the door to my walk-in closet. My closet is pretty small. I have heard that a long time ago, there were even some closets that were not walk-ins. I can't imagine how unfashionable those people must have been.

It seems that I have changed at just the right time, because I have just picked up my old clothes and thrown them away when I hear my dad walk in. We never wear clothes twice, and we always go shopping on Sundays, so why bother keeping them? They just take up valuable closet space. I quickly glance at my wrist, debating on whether or not to even worry about asking him before starting down the stairs.

Before I reach the bottom of our wooden staircase with a line of white carpet, I start to tell my father, "Dad, I have something kind of important but also weird to ask and-" before I notice the look on his face. He looks absolutely exhausted. I will wait until tomorrow to ask him, I suppose. I wouldn't want to stress him more.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he replies, with an obviously fake smile plastered below his usually energetic and joyful vibrant blue eyes. Today, they just look worn down and defeated.

"Oh, nothing really," I lie, "but I have a project due at school soon where I have to interview someone who works for the Value Center. It is supposed to teach us about why knowing the exact amount we are worth is important so that we don't overestimate or underestimate our value. And so that we remember that it is only what people see on the outside that matters." Okay, I really need to get better at lying. I just completely sputtered out some random excuse, and it looks like I now have made my dad even more busy than usual.

"I don't see what is so weird about that but sure, I'll do it," Dad replies with just a hint of a real smile at my flustered expression that is due to my lying but he must attribute to school stress.

"Thanks, Dad. You're the best," I quickly tell him, before I grab another red meal.

As we eat, we make small talk. He asks about my day at school, so I tell him.

"Dad, you wouldn't believe this! Guess what happened to me today. Here's a hint: it's the worst nightmare of someone in the Upper Years," I prompt.

"You were taken by the Fashion Police? Oh no, you weren't I hope. Then you would have to wear the most ugly cheetah-print romper you could imagine for the rest of the day!" he exclaims, as I almost choke on and spit out my mouthful of food at the same time thanks to my laughter at his ridiculous guess.

"Or did you-" he begins again.

"No, Dad," I cut him off, still giggling. If I hadn't he would have gone on forever, "Ashley accidentally spilled her food on me."

"Oh, no," he replies, "Not quite as bad as the fashion police, but still not good for your price."

"It's okay, Dad," I tell him in hopes to avoid that issue, "I got into the bathroom fast enough that I didn't lose value."

"Good, I'm glad. Wouldn't want my little girl getting cheap on me," he smiles. This time it's a real smile. Maybe I just won't mention the whole price thing if he is like this all weekend. I don't want to be the reason he goes back to being stressed. _Gosh, I love my dad so much._

We finish dinner and clear up our plates. I push the button on the dishwasher, and the dishes pop out clean and dry within seconds. I quickly put them back into the cabinet before hugging my dad and bidding him a good nights' rest. Looks like another late night for Mom working at the mall. I then ascend the stairs toward my room.

Once I reach my room, I grab my Tab from its charging port to check if Ashley and Kaden have responded. They have, and both of their messages say something along the lines of that their values have returned to normal. I'm glad. This seems more and more with each passing minute to be a minor glitch. But it has gotten me wondering more about the strange feeling I had earlier that the Gate was somehow connected to this issue.

 _Oh, well. Probably just my wild imagination._ I set my Tab down to finish charging. When the screen lights up into charge mode I realize that my dad and I had a long dinner, because it is already time to get to bed.

I quickly walk over to my closet and grab a cute robe. I strip down to underwear and put on the soft light blue material with my initials, BLG, on it in dark threading.

I walk back over to my bed and lie down. Sweet dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Ok. So I wished myself sweet dreams before I went to bed. They were anything but. I woke up in my current state, drenched in sweat and clutching the sheets as if for dear life with a heavy pounding headache. Why? Due to the worst nightmare of my life. I dreamed about what was beyond the Gate.

Sure, every kid dreams about a land of monsters and ghoulies beyond the Gate for awhile in their early childhood, but this wasn't one of those dreams. This was terrifying. I looked over to my Tab. It was in charge mode, so its clock displayed front and center. I checked it, and it was way too early to be awake. Especially on a Saturday. I try to sleep.

After fifteen minutes of tossing and turning, which leaves me more awake than before with every second of thought about my dream, I decide to give up on the effort to sleep. For a couple of minutes I just sit there on my bed, wrapped in disorderly mint green sheets, thinking about my dream.

 _I was alone, at the Gate. At the very edge. I looked back over the city. Essira looked completely empty. The few people I did see in the late hours looked like tiny bugs that we had heard of in history called ants. I had never seen a real one, but apparently, they used to exist. I looked back at the Gate. I glanced down to my wrist to find that my price was gone. I had no idea why that was, but I suddenly didn't care. All that I cared about was that I had this urge to move through the Gate. So I did. I was always taught to trust my instinct, and right now it told me to leave everything I ever knew and venture into the unknown. As I walked through, I knew there was no going back. I stepped through the Gate, and on the other side was nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was just a bunch of desert. I took one step forward and my toe hit something hard. I figured it to be a rock, but when I looked down, I found a human skull. I looked back up, and, much to my horror, I was surrounded by human skeletons that I had not seen with my previous glimpse. I tried to turn back, to run back through the Gate. But it was completely gone. Like nothing had ever been there. I looked all around me. This was all that there was. This was what the Revolt left behind._

That was when I woke up. I couldn't stand to sit and be alone with my thoughts like this any longer, so I went to a place that Kaden and I used to go all the time to clear our minds, my roof.

Kaden lives next door. That is why we ride the same hovershuttle and how we became friends so young. We used to meet on my roof when we couldn't sleep. His roof was more slanted and his parents' bedroom was upstairs, rather than downstairs, like mine were, so we met on my roof so that we wouldn't wake them up.

I climbed out the window and onto the roof, and for a moment, I didn't see him in the dark. Kaden was there. But why? Before I could ask him, I noticed that the moonlight hit his features quite nicely. I had never before noticed his strong jawline or full, soft, perfect lips. He hadn't noticed me yet, so I tried to be quiet coming out of my window. Apparently, I wasn't very quiet, because he jumped and nearly screamed at me.

"Woah! I didn't even see you there!" he whisper-shouted.

"Sorry," I simply replied.

"You do realize that you can't just sneak up on people like that on a roof, right?" he asked me, not really expecting an answer.

"I already apologized," I told him, "Don't make me take it back."

He just lowly chuckles. _That sounds like heaven_. Before I can stop myself, I have crawled up next to him, and I am about to nearly snuggle him when I realize that I can't just do that. _What has gotten into me? Do I like my best friend? Just a week ago I would have said no, but I think my answer may have changed._ It honestly scares me a little more than a little.

That is when I notice how deeply he stares into my eyes. I can feel myself blush. I am so grateful for the darkness now. My eyes flutter down to his lips for a second before they bounce back to his eyes. I thought he couldn't stare more intensely into my eyes with his brown ones, so like my own except their flecks of gold, but I was so wrong. His gaze, if you could even call it that, had intensified to levels I had not even imagined possible.

"You're staring," he mutters in an amazingly hot tone.

"I think you were the one who started it," I replied.

"But will I be the one to finish it?" he asks.

I am about to ask what he means when he takes my cheek in one hand and brings my chin to his lips with the other. My arms wrap around his neck for a second before one starts trailing through his short, dark, soft hair and the other moves to his chest. His lips feel warm and soft against mine, as do his hands against my skin. He still has his hand on my cheek, but now the other moves through my hair. Our lips move together in a rhythm that sends sparks flying through my body. We continue to kiss for a couple more seconds before he pulls away. He brings our foreheads together so that our noses touch and we can look into each others' eyes.

"I have always wanted to do that," he tells me in a low voice.

I just stare back, silently reflecting the events of this last half hour in awe. He pulls away, undoubtedly taking my silence as something bad.

"Wait," I tell him.

"I wasn't going anywhere," he responds.

"Oh, well," I begin.

"Yes?" he questions.

I think about telling him how much I enjoyed that kiss as well, but I decide against it. I go for the safe route.

"Why are you here?" I ask him.

"I came to clear my mind," he replies quickly.

"What is it that is making you upset and stressed?" I prompt, just as the sun starts to peek over the horizon. Kaden seems to notice it also, and he makes a move to leave.

"What is it?" I repeat my question, more demanding of an answer this time.

"I cannot tell you now, but I will later. All that I can safely say is that things are not what they seem," he tells me, slightly forcefully, as he makes a move to climb down the tree off of my roof.

"But what is it?" I say, more confused than the moment before he kissed me, which I had thought to be impossible.

"As I said, I am unable to tell you now. I suggest that we both get back into our beds before our parents catch us back out here," he commands as he descends on the tree.

The last time we came up here, our parents caught us when we had fallen asleep late that night talking and laughing. Needless to say, they were not happy to find their two young teenagers asleep on a roof by themselves. That put an end to our late-night roof chats, or so I had thought at the time.

I obey his orders and climb back into my bedroom. I tiptoe back into bed and decide to try to get a few more hours of sleep now that I have gotten past my nightmare. After all, it is the weekend.

Soon, I begin to drift off, but not before I feel myself place a hand over my lips as I give a small grin.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

I wake up a few hours later. I haven't slept as late as I often do on Saturdays, but no one can blame me for being a little wound up after last night's events.

After a couple moments of enjoying the beautiful rays of sunlight that shine through my window, reflecting my mood exactly. Then it hits me. _Why would Kaden make a move on me? I am worth less than he is._ It makes no sense, not that I am complaining. I push the issue out of my focus for now, but eventually, I know I will need answers.

Now that I have broken out of my blissful state, it is time for me to get ready for the day. I decide on a cat-eye look when it comes to eyeliner, with accents of red, orange, and deep purple eyeshadow. I choose a natural look for the rest of my makeup. I open my closet and pull out a black leather jacket with sleeves that go just over my elbows. My SmartCloset matches it with a grey cami and a pair of white shorts. As for shoes, I wear some heeled ankle-boots with laces in the front.

As I slip on a silver bracelet, I notice that my price has gone up to exactly $700. I can't put it off any longer. I will ask Dad today. I start to walk out of my room.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see Mom and Dad already at breakfast. Today is a green meal day. Carbohydrates.

"Good morning," I say, and they turn in my direction.

"How did you sleep?" Mom asks me, a kind smile appearing on her soft face. The smile reaches her pale blue eyes.

"Great, thanks," I reply, mirroring her smile.

I walk over and give them both a hug before getting a meal. I sit down at our circular table. I am across from Dad and next to Mom. We have a short exchange of small talk, mostly about the latest trends. Lelahni C still leads in the fashion industry. She is such an inspiration, and her name is so cool. Her whole last name is just one letter. That is asking for fame.

My mom puts her plate in the dishwasher before excusing herself to go to work. She works at the mall, so she only gets Sundays off, where my dad gets the whole weekend off. Mom goes into work later today, though, since the mall doesn't open until later on Saturdays.

This puts me alone at the table with Dad. The perfect time to ask him about my price. Dad pulls out his Tab after it pings.

"Sorry, Brinley, but it looks like there is a problem at the office. They need me," he looks at me apologetically.

"That's okay," I tell him, completely forgetting to ask about my value for a second.

"Thanks for understanding," he replies.

He gives me a slight wave before stepping through the scanner and getting a ping of approval. Just when I realize that I forgot to ask him about the number on my left wrist, he pokes his head back through the door on the other side of the scanner.

"I forgot to tell you, but you may want to change into some shorter shorts. Those are on the edge of going out of style," he says before quickly exitting.

"Thanks, Dad," I mutter, even though he can't hear me.

Dad always has an eye on my outfit to make sure I don't look too modest. That would be a disaster. I take his suggestion and change into a shorter pair of the same style shorts. I throw away the others, knowing that I won't wear them.

 _Today is going to be a boring Saturday_.

Just after I have changed and checked my Tab for any important fashion updates, I hear a tap on my window. I dismiss it to be a branch of the tree outside without even looking. Then, I hear the sound again. I look over and see that Kaden is on my windowsill. I rush over to let him in.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Are you not happy to see me?" he replies with a smirk.

"I am, but why are you in my house?" I repeat.

"Yesterday, I told you that I would explain later what was on my mind, and I think today is as good a time as any," he answers.

He walks over to my bed and sits down at the foot of it. He motions for me to sit down across from him, so I do.

"Don't freak out, please," he warns.

"I won't," I assure him.

"Alright, then," he begins, and then stops.

"It's okay, you can tell me," I start.

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that this is going to change your world, and I'm not sure I should do that," he explains.

I reach out and take both of his soft, warm hands into my own. He breathes in heavily before letting it out slowly.

"First of all, I am not from here," he says.

"But there is nowhere else to be from," I reply quickly, "Essira is the only civilization since the Revolt. There isn't anything beyond-"

Then it hits me. _He came from outside of the Gate_. My eyes widen and I start to back up as well as I can, but his hands tighten around mine.

"Wait," he says in a calm tone, so I do.

"What is it?" I reply after a couple of seconds when he doesn't speak.

"I was sent here, by people who I am not able to tell you about yet, but I can tell you that your society is falling apart. Soon, Essira will fall, and I was sent here to protect you from that," he answers.

"Why me?" I ask, confused.

"I can't tell you that yet. But I can let you know that you are important to saving values in this world that have almost been lost completely," he responds.

 _What the heck does that even mean?_ I know he won't answer my questions yet, and I know that he would never put me in danger, but Kaden is kind of scaring me a lot right now.

"I have to go," he quickly states.

"But-," I start, but he cuts me off with a quick kiss. _His lips are just so soft and warm._

I am about to really get into the kiss when he pulls away, leaving me stunned and confused.

"Brinley, I really like you," he confesses.

"But I am worth less than you," I reply, glancing down at my wrist out of habit. It reads $694 again. Dad must have fixed the issue when he got called in today.

"I don't care," he quickly answers, "it's not just what's on the outside that matters."

That last comment makes me completely bewildered. _All that affects your price is the outside, so how could anything else matter?_

As I sit there with the same thought running through my head, he climbs out of my window before I can say anything else. What Kaden said was completely insane, yet somehow, I feel like I should believe him, even though I don't totally understand some of what he says.

I walk back over to my bed and pick up my Tab. I have one new message. I open it, and I realize that Kaden sent it.

"Meet me at our tree tomorrow, and I can explain more," it reads.

I send a reply, "I'll be there."

Our tree is a tree in the corner of our hovershuttle stop that we used to hang out under when we were in the Lower Years of school. We even carved our initials into it with the sharpest objects available to us, kitchen knives. It took a long time, but we did it. Other knives have been outlawed, as they promote violence, which is bad for popularity.

I can't wait until tomorrow, but I also can't help wondering what I mean to Kaden. We aren't boyfriend and girlfriend, but this feels like more than just a mutual crush.

 _Just a few days ago, life was so simple and normal. Now it has gone to chaos._ I wonder what will happen next.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

I wake up the next morning bright and early. Mom and I need to get up early so that we can get to the mall before everyone else buys all the expensive and fashionable clothes. I roll out of bed and walk over to my makeup table to do my makeup for today.

I decide to go with a shimmery but skin toned eyeshadow and a vibrant blue eyeliner under my eye. It really brings out my eyes, and I rather like this look. I pair it with a glossy almost-hot-pink lipstick and rosy blush. My hair is in loose ringlets today.

As for clothes, I decide on a slightly see-through white shirt that just reaches the top of my high-waisted, skin-tight jeans, which are also a vibrant blue. My shoes are plain white with a cute bow on the outside of the ankle.

I check my price, and I notice that it has done something spectacularly strange. It has gone up to $814. What?! This definitely is not right. I will have to ask Dad about it this afternoon, when he gets back from shopping. Everyone shops on Sundays.

I hear a tap on my window. Thinking it may be Kaden again, I go to talk to him. It turns out to be the tree outside, but my window is angled towards the Gate, and it doesn't look the way it usually does. Usually, the hole in it is a rather cloudy gray color, not allowing any sight coming in or out, but today, it is black. I have no clue what is going on.

A quick check on my Tab has Lelahni C, everyone's idol, saying that there is nothing to worry about, and that any fluctuations in price and the color of the Gate are just a glitch caused by a restart of some computer systems yesterday. We have all been instructed to remain calm and carry on our Sunday as usual.

With that in mind, I walk out of my room and down the stairs to find Mom already at breakfast. Today's meal is yellow, so it will be high in minerals. All of our food tastes the same, so it doesn't really matter to me what color it is as long as I get the stuff I need. I grab a to-go plate and we head off to the mall.

While we are in one of my favorite stores, we run into someone. Literally. It's like a movie scene where I am holding a ton of clothes and don't see him ahead of me, so I run into him and drop them. Then we both profusely and awkwardly apologize while I blush under my makeup and we try to clean up all of the stuff I dropped. That is exactly what happened.

He is a little bit taller than me, with gray, kind eyes, and blond hair. After I stand back up, he introduces himself.

"I'm Ryder," he informs me with a smile.

"Brinley," I simply reply, returning the smile.

"What Year are you in school?" he asks me.

"Senior, you?" I return the question.

"The same. I guess I will see you around," he answers.

"I hope to see you too," I reply.

As we go over to pay, I realize that he was still holding onto a silver chain bracelet that I had planned to buy. _Oh, well, I'll just get another one_.

We finally finish our day of shopping, and I am exhausted. I don't even take my shoes off before I flop onto my bed. Soon, I feel myself start to doze off.

What feels like only ten minutes later, I wake up with my makeup smeared and hair a mess. A quick glance outside lets me know that I was asleep for hours. It is nearly sunset. I am about to go back to sleep when I remember that I was supposed to meet Kaden today. _Shoot! I had better get ready now. He can't see me like this, I look terrible._

I quickly get up and throw away all of the clothes I had on. I go to my makeup counter and get to work. First, I remove all of my smeared makeup. Next, I reapply foundation and decide what look to go for. I settle on a rose-pink eyeshadow with only a little bit of black eyeliner. For my lips, I use light pink shiny gloss.

Now it is time to get dressed. I pick out one of my favorite new outfits. It is a white tube top with pink roses on it. With it is a pair of dark jean shorts. I made sure that they were very short and tight. I slip on a black sweater with sleeves just past my elbows. As for shoes, I go with a pair of black heels with straps around my ankles. Time to go!

I run downstairs and tell my parents that I am going to see Kaden for a bit. They say that is fine as long as I am back by my curfew. They are so funny. No one has a curfew. Curfews make you unpopular. Any good parent lets you party all night long.

I give a quick, "Thanks! You're the best," before running out the door.

By the time I make it to the shuttle stop, I have little hope that Kaden will still be there, so I am completely amazed when he is. I walk over to him, and he gets up to greet me with a kiss on the forehead.

"Good evening, beautiful," he greets me.

 _No one has ever called me that before. What do I say back?_

"Why would you call me that?" I ask, "I'm not worth anything compared to what you are."

He just shakes his head.

"You'll understand soon," he tells me.

He gestures for us to sit down on a bench next to our tree. We do.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I prompt.

"Yes, that I did," he replies.

"And?" I further encourage him to speak.

"You were very confused the other day about how I could possibly want to be a with you because you think you are worth less than me," he begins.

"I am worth less than-" I try to state, but he cuts me off.

"Don't you see, Brin? These prices don't mean anything. They only point to outer beauty. What happened to considering the stuff that matters?" he almost shouts.

"What are you talking about? Outer beauty is the only thing that matters," I have no idea what he is talking about. _What other beauty is there, anyways?_

"No, no it's not," he firmly states, "What matters is in your heart. What matters is how you treat others and yourself. What matters is not the way you look, or how you dress, or the number of friends you have, it's the love that you show other people and yourself, the respect that you have for other peoples' opinions and the compassion that you give to those who need it."

"I-I don't understand," I respond.

"You, Brinley Lane Glass," I love the way my name sounds when he says it, "possess an inner beauty that no one since the Revolt has had, and you could be the one to save us."

"Save who from what?" I ask, still totally confused.

"You could save everyone from losing what really matters. Essira is slowly pushing away everything that makes us human. Everything that defines a person. Think about it, do your parents think that you are beautiful?" he asks.

"Well, no, because I am not, really," I begin, "and they would never lie to me."

"See, Brinley, that's wrong. A parent should support you no matter how you dress, or act, or think. They should support you no matter what you say, or are passionate about, or how many friends you have," he tells me.

"But why would they do that?" I ask. This isn't making any sense, "Why would you do that for someone who doesn't deserve it?"

"I know you don't understand this yet, Brin, but at the basis of the human heart is an emotion of sorts, like being happy or sad, but it means so much more than that. It is unconditional love," he tries to explain.

"What is that?" I am so confused. I have never heard of this in my life.

"Unconditional love is when you love a person no matter what they dress like, or how many friends they have, or how many mistakes they make, because they have inner beauty that you can appreciate. It's loving somebody not just in spite of what they do wrong, but because of what they do wrong, because that makes them who they are, and that is inner beauty," he explains.

"And what do I have to do with this?" I now understand what he is saying, but I still don't see my role in it.

"You see, Brinley, when you were born, my mother and father, who were from outside the Gate, knew you were special. They saw how you forgave people when they would mess up your clothes, or how you would support your friends no matter how low their value was because of a mistake. They saw that you could love people, even though no one else can do that anymore," he says.

"But why do you tell me this?" I don't see where he is going with this.

"Brin, we need you to teach people how to love again."


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

After Kaden delivered his shocking message, we walked home, hand in hand. When we reached my door, he gave me a quick kiss and wished me a good night with a smile. I don't think I could ever get tired of that smile.

I wake up early this morning because it is a Monday, so we have school. After I finally convince myself to roll out of bed, I head over to my makeup table.

I choose to go with a flashy golden look today. I apply black eyeliner all around my dark brown eyes and pair it with golden sparkly eyeshadow. It looks good with my black mid-thigh-length dress. It has stripes of solid colored fabric with see-through material in between. For shoes, I select a plain black pair of black stilettos with a rounded toe. I accessorize with a set of gold bracelets. When I glance down at my wrist, it has readjusted to $695. That's strange. Only one number off. Maybe the problem is being fixed. Good. I was going to finally ask my dad about it today, but it looks like I won't need to do so, since the problem is being fixed.

Eventually, I head out to the shuttle stop, where I see Kaden tapping his foot to music by our tree. Typical Kaden. I walk over and hug him. Of course, he didn't see me coming and jumps.

"Morning," he greets me.

"Good morning," I return.

"I like your dress," he complements.

"Thanks," I automatically reply.

"Not that there's anything you look bad in," he jokes.

I just shake my head, smiling, knowing that anything I argued would be useless. He is still trying to convince me that I have some inner beauty. I get it, but I'm suspicious that it's all in his head.

That's when I feel a hand under my chin, and I am staring into Kaden's beautiful gold-flecked eyes. _I could get lost in those eyes_. Then he pulls me in for a kiss.

Once again, sparks fly through my whole body. I don't think I could ever get used to how warm and soft his lips are. One of his hands moves to the side of my cheek, near my ear, and the one on my chin stays put. I run one of my hands through his hair, and my other removes the one on my cheek, and we intertwine our fingers. The kiss lasts for a few seconds before the hovershuttle pulls up, and then we gaze into each others' smiling eyes for a second before boarding.

On the hovershuttle, I curl up next to Kaden, with my head resting on his shoulder. He runs his hands through my light brown hair. We sit like this for a couple of minutes before I notice a familiar face a few rows away from us. _Is that Ryder? I can't believe I didn't know him. We ride the same hovershuttle!_

Kaden must notice me staring in disbelief and misinterpret it to be a stare of like, because he clears his throat and sits up stiffly. We ride in awkward silence for the remainder of the ride to school.

When we unload from the bus, I try to find Ryder, but he seems to have disappeared. After a couple minutes of searching, I finally spot his blond hair behind a couple of groups of people. At this point, Kaden has wandered off somewhere else, probably to his locker, but I want to speak to Ryder.

"Hey," I greet as I catch up to him.

"Hi, Brinley," he returns quickly.

"I had no idea we rode the same hovershuttle," I state.

"No way! Really?" he asks.

"Yep," I confirm.

"You look really cute today, Brin," he starts, "It is okay if I call you that, right? I like to give pretty girls nicknames."

"Sure," I say, blushing.

"Would you like me to walk you to your locker?" he offers.

"Sure," I repeat.

"Then let's go," he replies, as we start walking.

He laces his fingers with mine, and we eventually end up my locker, where a now-very-unhappy Kaden is waiting. _Oh no! He is not going to take a flirty guy escorting me around well at all._

He stands up from his leaning position against my locker, and I try to separate myself from Ryder, but he evidently can't take the hint and does not release my hand.

"Bye, Ryder," I tell him.

"I can walk you to your next class, I don't mind," he says. He really isn't getting this.

"No, no I'm really okay," I insist.

"I'd like to walk you there," he urges.

"And who says that I'll let you walk my girl to class?" an angry Kaden asks, not wanting an answer. _My girl? Does that mean we are dating?_ I am so confused.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ryder tries to fix his mistake, "Sorry, Brin."

"It's ok, Ryder, you didn't know," I try.

Kaden just glares at him.

After what seems like hours but is only seconds, he turns and walks away.

"What was that about?" Kaden demands, now directing his frustrations toward me.

"I'm so sorry-" I am cut off by the first class bell.

"We'll talk later," he says, and we rush off to class.

I am not looking forward to lunch today.

During history, we are assigned a partner project, and of course, I get assigned to work with Kaden. Usually, that would be awesome, but we aren't on the best of terms right now. We have to build a miniature model of a car. It's like a non-flying hovercraft that looks half as cool, ruins the air, and is super loud. We only have to make it look like a car, of course, not have it run like one.

We are given a few minutes at the end of class to discuss projects. Kaden and I sit and ignore each other in silence. It is going to be a long day.

As we leave for lunch, Kaden pulls me aside and into an empty closet. It is actually a pretty big closet.

"So, I don't seem to understand what is going on between you and the guy who walked you to your locker today," he starts, "Inform me."

"Well," I explain, "we met at the mall yesterday, and he was cool, so I thought I would say hello to him this morning when he started flirting with me, and I didn't want to be rude, so I just let it happen. I didn't see the problem because it's not like we are dating or anything, at least that is what I thought, until you called me your girl in the hallway."

"Yeah, about that. Will you be my girlfriend?" he asks.

"Yes, yes, yes!" I almost scream.

"Well, now that we have settled that issue, we need to talk about rules. Now that we are officially dating, our parents have to know, along with Ashley. We can tell both of them today or tomorrow. No flirting with other people intentionally, that goes for both of us. Lastly, no lying to each other. There is no reason to lie now and have to deal with the consequences later. It only gets worse," he states.

"Alright. I can do that," I agree.

"You're the best girlfriend I could ask for," he tells me, as he leans in closer.

This kiss goes much like the previous two, sending sparks flying, but this time, my hands aren't in his hair, and his don't hold my chin. We both just lace our fingers together. We kiss for a little bit before the lunch bell rings, and it is time to go to fashion class.

We walk hand-in-hand to class. I couldn't ask for anything more. I have awesome parents, a super sweet boyfriend, and totally cool friends. Speaking of friends, I hope Ashley isn't too mad about me and Kaden dating and ditching her at lunch.

When we get to fashion, Kaden releases my hand and enter the class. Off to work!


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

It isn't until after a long two hours of fashion class that Ashley finds out about me and Kaden. We are walking down the hallway, hand-in-hand as usual, when we run into the third member of our trio. We quickly drop hands, but not before she notices.

"Hey, Ashley," I greet her.

"Hey, Brin, Kay," she starts, "Is something going on between the two of you?"

"Yeah, sorry we didn't tell you yet, Ash," Kaden apologizes.

"To be fair, it just officially happened today," I jump in.

Her smile just gets bigger and bigger.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing," she says, "I just always knew you two would end up together. You're perfect for each other!"

We all laugh, knowing it's kind of true.

The final bell rings, and Kaden and I part ways with Ashley. I am still jealous that she has her own hovercraft.

As we walk to the hovershuttle, Kaden presses a kiss to the top of my head and grabs my hand again, re-lacing our fingers. I look up at him and smile.

On the hovershuttle, Kaden starts to talk about this whole 'saving the world' thing. Turns out, it's a lot harder than it seems, teaching people how to love. Especially when you're not totally sure what love is yourself. He tells me to start by naming who I love and one reason I love them.

"I love my mom because she is always there to talk to when I need her. I love my dad because he always helps me with fashion when necessary," I start, "I love Ashley because she is super nice to me but not in an uncomfortable way."

His face turns a bit disappointed. I'm not sure what I did to upset him, but he seems unlike his usual self.

"I love you, Brinley Lane," he tells me out of nowhere, "I really do."

 _What? What do I say back to that? How do you respond to something like that? Do I love Kaden? As a friend, I know I did, but he is more than that to me now._

"It's okay if you can't say it back. I know you don't really understand it, but I love you, and I want you to know that," he tries to help me.

"I'm sorry, Kaden, but I don't want to lie to you, so I think I need more time to understand before I say anything," I reply.

 _I'm not sure why, but this seems to be a really serious and important thing. I don't want to commit to something I don't even really understand._

He looks disappointed, and when I try to comfort him, he just says, "Don't. You don't know what it's like to want to be with someone your whole life, only to tell them that and be rejected. Love is usually a good thing, but this is why they got rid of it. Sometimes, love hurts."

We ride the rest of the way to the stop in silence. When we arrive, we get off and wave to each other solemnly before we part ways. Our houses are next door to each other, so I awkwardly fall behind so that we are not walking right next to one another.

When we reach our houses, I bid him goodbye.

"Bye, Kaden. I really am sorry," I tell him.

"It's alright, Brinley, I don't want you to commit to something you're not ready for," he replies.

"Are we still okay?" I ask.

"I'm not really sure, honestly," he says.

 _Oh, man, I really messed things up this time. What am I supposed to do, though?_

Once I walk inside, I go straight up to my room. My parents aren't home, and I don't feel like eating dinner tonight.

I change into a pink silk robe with my initials on it in white. I remove all of my makeup and get into my soft mint sheets. I stare at the ceiling for a few minutes before sleep finally comes to me.

I wish I could say I had a nice slumber, but I wake up around midnight due to nightmares. Nothing near as bad as the Gate, but mostly sad, sad dreams. In many of them, I lose Kaden.

 _I never really thought about how much he means to me, until I thought I might lose him. This whole situation makes me realize how much he means to me._

I'll have to tell him this tomorrow. I now know. I love Kaden.

I can't sleep again after my recent discovery, so I climb up onto my roof. I am kind of hoping Kaden will show up, but he doesn't.

I go back inside and pick up my Tab. I can't wait to tell him until morning. I send a message, "I have something to tell you. Meet me on the roof?"

A few minutes later I get one back, "I'm here." I quickly go out through the window, to find my beautiful Kaden waiting for me. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, and he stiffens.

 _Right, Kaden is still upset with me._

"What do you need, Brinley?" he asks, unenthusiastic.

"I was thinking earlier, and I woke up, and I had dreams, and-" I start rambling.

"Hey, it's ok, just tell me," he says, suddenly comforting.

"I-I think I love you," I tell him hesitantly.

"You think?" he questions.

"No, I know I love you," I reply, more sure this time.

"Good, because I couldn't stay upset with you much longer," he grins.

He pulls me into his lap, facing him, and pulls me in for a kiss. He wraps his arms around my waist, and my hand rest on the thin white t-shirt over his chest. As our lips move together, my arms wrap around his neck. Sparks fly everywhere. I feel myself start to playfully bite his bottom lip as he continues to kiss mine, less softly now. I move back to pressing against his lips, and he licks my bottom lip, his tongue asking for entrance. I grant it, and his tongue explores my mouth. We continue to make out for awhile before we both draw back, out of air. He presses a quick kiss to my nose, making me giggle a bit.

"Was that a giggle?" he asks.

"Maybe," I blush.

"Brinley Lane, you must really like me," he states arrogantly.

I roll my eyes.

Kaden picks me up and spreads his legs wide before placing me in between them, facing away from him. He wraps his arms loosely around my waist, and I lean into his kind warmth.

"I love you," I tell him softly.

"I love you, too," he replies, "more than you know."

We sit out on the roof for awhile until the sun starts to peek over the edge of the horizon. Kaden gives me a quick goodbye kiss, and we hurry back to our own homes. It's time to get ready for school.

Once I successfully get to my bedroom without waking my parents, I shut the window and head over to my makeup table. My hair gets straightened out, and I apply foundation and blush. My eye makeup is deep red with a black cat-eye. Now for clothes and shoes.

I pull on a red crop top with a black rose on it, and light jean shorts. I pull out some dark red heels that lace up to my ankles before heading downstairs.

On my way, I run into my dad. I decide that today, I really will ask him what's up.

"Hey, Dad, I don't want to worry you or anything, but something is going on with my price," I blurt.

 _Way to choose a nice lead-in._

"Yes, I know it's an issue. Many people's were doing that, and the company is doing everything they can. We believe that the systems are just getting old, so we ran a maintenance check on them. That's when we realized that some of them never got the recent update. We are pushing that to them today, and that should solve the problem," he calmly informs me.

"Oh, good. It's just a silly mistake," I reply.

"Yep, nothing to worry about," he assures me.

 _A little too late for that._

I check my price, and it's almost normal, $697. Not that there is anything to worry about. The scientists like Dad never find a problem that they can't fix. I grab some breakfast, and head out the door.

The scanner approves my outfit, and I start to the shuttle stop. With my recent discovery about my feelings for Kaden and the prices being near-fixed, I don't see how anything could ruin this day.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch. 9

I couldn't have been more wrong. My day was ruined almost as soon as I walked into school.

We walk by Ryder as we get off of the hovershuttle. Kaden has one arm wrapped around my waist, and I feel his grip tighten. I look over to him for an explanation.

"What?" he asks, "I don't like him."

"I know, but it's really fine. I'm with you," I assure him.

"It's not that I don't trust you," he replies, "I just don't trust him."

We walk to my locker. As we make our way down the halls, I feel a couple of juniors' eyes on me. Kaden has unwound his arm from my waist by now, our fingers interlaced. I feel his grip on my hand tighten.

"Kaden, what has gotten into you?" I ask, stopping in my tracks.

"What are you talking about?" he replies with a question.

"Oh, as if you don't know," I start, "Every single time any guy has laid their eyes on me, you've gotten all clingy,"

"I don't like them eyeing my girlfriend," he explains, "and you know I don't like Ryder."

"Ok, I get the thing with Ryder, but it wasn't like I was returning any of their affections. I just ignore them, can't you?" I finally tell him, and I walk off to class.

He trails behind, probably wanting to talk, but I ignore him. The last thing I want to do right now is have a heart-to-heart with Kaden.

I arrive at history class, and it is super boring, as usual. This time, I feel like it is even worse, because I am not about to chat with Kaden on my Tab like usual. Despite my resolve to stay silent towards him this class, my Tab repeatedly flashes a message notification light. After the first one, I don't even bother checking. It's Kaden, and I'm not in the mood for his apologies. I know he doesn't really mean it, he just wants me back.

When class is over, I make sure to stick around as long as possible so that Kaden and I won't run into each other in the halls.

Once I arrive at lunch, I grab a purple meal and take a seat across from Ashley at our usual spot.

 _Weird, Kaden's not here. I get if he was trying to ignore me, but Ashley is his friend, too._

"Hey, Ash. Where's Kay?" I ask, using our nicknames.

"I'm not sure. I thought he was with you," she replies.

I scan the room for Kaden and find him sitting in the middle of what we three used to call the Brainless Blond table. Not all of them are blond, but they are that giggly type that act so stupid that you seriously question how they pass school. I never would have expected that.

I am about to shrug it off and look away when I notice that Kaden has his arms around two of them and they are all giggling toward him. I feel myself clench my fingers into fists at my sides. I faintly hear Ashley trying to comfort me, but I don't want her sympathy.

 _Two can play at this game_.

I spot Ryder at the next table over from Kaden, within his sight line. His table has a few others, but not too many, perfect.

"I'll be back," I mumble to Ash.

"Where are you going?" she asks, but I am already walking away.

A few moments later, I am sitting down next to Ryder.

"Hi, Ryder," I speak first, as he looks a little bit confused.

"H-hi, Brinley," he shakily replies.

"I think I like you," I tell him.

I never realized that I had this manipulative side to me, and I'm not sure that I like it. A glance at Kaden shows him staring at me, his body seeming relaxed, still wrapped around two Brainless Blonds, but if looks could kill, I would be past dead. I just smirk. I look back to Ryder, glad that my plan is working.

"But what about Kaden?" he cautiously asks.

"Don't worry about him," I reply, before making a ridiculously brave move.

I lean forward and grab his neck, pressing his lips to mine. I don't feel any sparks, and his lips aren't as soft or warm as Kaden's. It is a short kiss, only lasting a few seconds. It was nice, but not mind-blowing, like Kaden's kisses.

When I pull away, Ryder looks shocked, and I start to move back over to Ashley, but I am stopped halfway back. A hand jerks my forearm hard all the way out of the cafeteria. That hand belongs to the one and only Kaden.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" I almost yell at him once we reach the hallway.

His hand immediately drops, and he looks even more pained than he did before once he realizes what he is doing.

"What the heck are you doing?" he demands.

"If I remember correctly, you're the one who had his arms around two other girls," I spit back at him.

"Well, you told me to be less clingy, and when you stormed off this morning and didn't even bother to check my messages, I assumed you wouldn't want to talk to me, so I didn't sit at our table. As for the other girls, one of them waved me over and they made me sit with them. It was pretty much torture, but I was willing to go through it if it gave you the time you needed," he explains.

I suddenly feel very guilty.

"I'm sorry, Kaden. I really didn't know, and I thought you were trying to make me jealous, so I acted out. It wasn't right of me to do that, and I really feel bad, now. It wasn't fair to you, and I put Ryder's feelings on the line, when he doesn't deserve it," I apologize.

"I understand now that you didn't mean it, but you have to trust me more," he takes my hands in his.

"I'm so sorry," I repeat, "I do trust you, I just got mad, and I wasn't thinking right."

"Hey, B," he uses my little kid nickname, making me blush, "stop apologizing, it's ok."

He pulls me in for a warm hug, and my head rests on his shoulder for a couple of seconds before he pulls away.

"I've forgiven you, but you probably have some explaining to do to Ryder, don't you?" he asks.

Now I really feel bad. Ryder's a good guy. He didn't deserve this at all.

We walk back into the cafeteria, and he goes back to sit with Ashley, as I take my time making it over to Ryder's table.

When I finally arrive, I sit down next to him.

"What's wrong, Brinley?" he asks in a caring tone.

"I-I didn't mean what I did and said," I muttered.

"So you don't like me?" he looks crushed.

"I mean, you're a great guy, but I was just trying to get back at Kaden," I explain, "He was making me upset, so I used you against him. I'm sorry."

"This isn't something that I can take lightly, exactly, Brinley, nor do I like the situation, but I can't do much about it can I?" he asks.

I shake my head in return.

"Then I guess that is settled. Sorry to put you through this," he accepts it.

"You shouldn't be apologizing," I quickly tell him, "Friends?"

I doubt that he will accept my offer.

"We can try it, I guess," he agrees.

"Thanks," I say as I get up.

I walk back over to my table, and Ashley still seems in a daze. It confuses her even more when I sit down and snuggle up to Kaden.

"So, Kay won't explain it," she starts, "What is going on?"

"Kaden and I are still good and still together. There was a mix-up, and Ryder and I are friends but nothing more," I sum up, leaving out a ton of details.

"Later, I want details, but now, you're clearly mentally dead, and lunch is about to end," she says, settling for what she can get at the moment.

Just as she finishes speaking, the bell rings, ending the most eventful lunch I think I have ever attended. I have never been more relieved to design outfits. Off to fashion class!


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

The rest of the day goes on uneventfully. I arrive home, seeing my dad on the way in. He is beaming.

"Hey, Dad. Good day at work?" I question.

"Yep. We fixed the prices. Go ahead, check yours!" he says excitedly.

I do, and it is back to its normal $694. Perfect! This is awesome. I don't know why I was ever worried. Of course the company could handle it.

I send Dad a quick smile and run up to my room. I am working on homework when I remember our partner project. I check the due date on my Tab, and I realize that it is due tomorrow! Oh man, with all of the drama recently between Kaden and me, I completely forgot about the project!

I quickly send Kaden a message, "Come over. We need to work on the history project." Minutes later, I receive one back, "Dang it! Sorry I forgot. I'll be over in a bit."

As promised, Kaden shows up soon, and we work on our project. Within a few hours, we have a car that isn't that great, but it'll work.

"I'm really sorry that I forgot about the project, Brin," he apologizes again.

"It's fine. I forgot, too," I respond, "and now we have a project, don't we?"

"I guess that in the end, we got it done, and we are still good, so that's what matterrs," he says.

I smile and give him a quick kiss.

"You know, we really should tell our parents that we are together," he mentions.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just scared for how they'll react. Can we tell them another time?" I suggest. Well, more like plead.

"Whenever you're ready," he answers.

 _He's so sweet and caring. I couldn't ask for anything more._

After a bit longer, Kaden goes home and I go to bed. When I check my price again just in case, it remains at $694. I'm so glad that this was sorted out. I sleep soundly and without dreams for once.

The next morning, I wake up and move over to my makeup table. I curl my hair loosely, and I apply eyeshadow that starts white towards the inside of my eyes and fades to a nice purple as it goes out. My lips are a light pink, only a little more colored than natural tone.

I wear a pair of very tight jeans and a purple cami with a white sweater over it. The sweater goes a little past my hips and has lace-like tassels. It reaches just over my elbows. For shoes, I choose light brown heeled boots that come a little over my ankles.

I hug my parents goodbye and leave towards the shuttle stop. When I turn onto a busier walkway, I run into Ryder, on the way to the hovershuttle, like me.

"Hey, Ryder," I greet.

"Hey, B," he uses Kaden's nickname for me, "It's alright if I call you that, right?"

"Well, actually, that nickname is kind of reserved for Kaden," I answer honestly.

His jaw clenches at the mention of my boyfriend. We walk in awkward silence for a few moments before he grabs my hand.

"Ryder?" I question.

"Yes, that is my name," he responds.

"Why are we holding hands?" I ask.

"Because we like each other and are in a secret relationship, obviously. And as far as I can tell, your boyfriend isn't around," he replies.

 _What?! I am not a part of some private relationship away from Kaden!_

"You were basically asking for this when you told me you didn't like me yesterday. By the way, great acting. I was almost fooled at first, and you definitely tricked Kaden," he continues.

I shake myself from his arm, which is now snaked rather low around me.

"I am not in any sort of relationship with you other than a platonic friendship, and there is absolutely no way I would ever cheat on Kaden. I don't know what you are talking about, I meant all that I said yesterday. You can have me as a friend or not at all," I firmly state.

"Playing hard-to-get, are you? No matter, you'll be mine soon," he says as he begins to walk away.

I hadn't realized that we were nearly at the bus stop already.

"Oh, and you had better not tell anyone about us or fail to comply to me, or you'll have serious consequences. Or should I say your special lover-boy will," he whispers at the last second.

I quickly walk away. I don't know what to do. I can't cheat on Kaden, but I can't let him know about Ryder or one of two things will happen. One: he freaks out and hurts Ryder, getting him in trouble. Two: Ryder finds out I told him and he gets in trouble.

 _I suppose that I only have one choice as of right now, and that is to go along with Ryder's messed up, psycho plan until I find a loophole._

I never would have thought that Ryder had this side to him. I am honestly very scared.

"Hey, B," Kaden greets, and I plaster on a fake smile.

"Hi, Kay," I return, but the smile doesn't reach my eyes.

"What's wrong? And don't tell me that it's nothing, because I know you too well for that," he questions, demanding yet soft and caring.

"I'm just nervous for our project, that's all," I lie.

He sees right through it, I'm sure, but he just nods and accepts it for now. White lies between us generally mean something like, "I have something to tell you, but with the circumstances right now I just can't."

We ride to school only making small talk, and that is fine with me. On the way, I check my wrist again. Still normal.

History class goes by, and, as expected, we totally mess up our presentation, but who really cares? I personally think that we did very well for how little time spent on it.

I need to ask the teacher a question about some school events coming up soon, so I decide to stay after class a few minutes. I tell Kaden to go ahead to lunch, and I'll meet him there.

I finish speaking with the teacher very quickly, and I am almost to lunch when I am jerked into the same closet that Kaden pulled me into during lunch when I became his girlfriend.

Assuming it is him, I say, "Hi, Kay. Not that I mind missing lunch, but why are we in a closet again? Does this have to do with this morning?"

"What happened this morning, hmm?" not-Kaden responds.

I clamp my hand over my mouth.

 _He can't know that I tried to tell Kaden, can he?_

"You didn't already spoil our little secret, did you?" a sneering Ryder asks.

"N-no," I tell him.

"And will you?" he questions.

When I don't respond soon enough for him, he barks out, "Will you?!"

"No," I state, a bit more confident in my answer this time, even though it is a lie. I will tell Kaden, but I am unsure when or how.

"Good," he simply replies, before releasing the grip on my arm that I forgot he was holding. That is going to bruise.

Before I can focus too much on that, though, he backs me up against the wall and pins my hands above my head.

"What are you doing?" I ask, now scared.

He just smirks.

"You used me without a care, so I figure that you won't mind if I do the same to you," he responds.

Then he pushes his lips onto mine. I remain still, and my eyes are wide open, although his remain closed. He pulls away.

"Is that any way to treat me? I expect you to be responsive when I kiss you. Try again," he commands.

He presses his lips to mine, and I answer back with my own slightly. I don't want to, but I fear for myself and Kaden if I don't. Tears roll down my face. His lips aren't kind, they are rough, and he bites me too hard, almost making me bleed. His hands are rough and cold. One still pins my arms above my head, and the other keeps my head from turning away. I struggle to escape, but it is no good. He is too strong.

I am lucky when he pulls away a few seconds later and tells me to go clean up before the end of lunch. I have no idea what he is talking about until I make it to the restroom. My makeup is smeared, and tear marks line my face. I do the best that I can to clean myself up before lunch ends, and nobody seems to notice when I enter fashion.

During class, I receive a message on my Tab from Ash and a similar one from Kaden. I open a group message and send to both of them that it took a lot longer than I had expected to talk to the history teacher, and so I just had time to make it to fashion after that. Not the most believable lie ever, but it'll do the job until I figure this out. By the time that they realize that I wasn't there, I will have told them what is going on.

For now, I just have to think about how to get out of Ryder's trap. I still can't believe that he is the horrible person that he has revealed himself to be now. He seemed like such a nice person.

At the end of the day, I ride home and collapse onto my bed. After a few seconds of trying to clear my mind of the day's events, I take off my shoes and get into a yellow robe with my initials in orange, ignoring my homework.

It is only afternoon, but I cry myself to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

The next morning, I get up and get ready for school, as much as I don't want to. At my makeup table, I leave my hair in its waves. I choose shimmery but natural colored eyeshadow with thick mascara and a dark red lipstick. I like this look.

I walk over to my closet and pull out a black top that has lace designs all around the bottom and over my shoulders. The pants for today are tight dark red jeans, and they go with knee height black heeled boots with a gold zipper on the side.

Downstairs, I find that my parents are already at work, so I grab my breakfast, a green apple because food is green today, and walk through the scanner. It pings that I can go, and I start off to the stop. Today, I have asked Kaden to walk with me to avoid an encounter with Ryder if at all possible. When he steps outside in a tight white t-shirt and jeans, he walks over to me and wraps one of his muscular-but-not-too-muscular arms around my waist and starts to kiss my neck, bringing us to a stop.

"Kaden," I say between giggles. I try to squirm out of his grip, but it is useless.

I only earn a muffled, "hmm?"

"We have to get to school," I remind him.

"Can't it wait?" he asks into my hair.

"Sorry, but no. I'm not going to mess up my perfect record now," I strictly tell him before starting to walk again.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Kaden's kisses. A lot. But we don't have time.

He pulls away but keeps an arm around me.

"Fine," he says like a little kid who can't have another cookie.

"Thank you," I respond, and we walk to the hovershuttle.

The morning is pretty boring. I leave history, avoiding the closet after lunch yesterday. I am just beginning to think that I may have been able to get away from Ryder today when I am slammed against a locker. I whimper in pain.

"Sorry," Ryder says, not really caring that I'm hurt.

"Don't even lie and act like you care about me," I spit out.

He doesn't answer, just glares at me.

"I see that you have avoided our closet. Want to make this relationship a little more risky by being in public? I like that," he sneers.

 _Oh, no! I cannot have people seeing Ryder kissing me in the halls. What would they think? I could only hope that word wouldn't get around to Kaden so he wouldn't be upset at me for not telling him._

I am woken up from my thoughts when my hands are, once again, slammed into the locker, pinned above my head. I can do nothing but dread what comes next. I close my eyes and try to escape in my mind. I know it won't work, but at this point, I'm desperate.

"Eager to begin, I see," Ryder takes my eyes closing to be in pleasure, not fear.

I just let him think what he wants. Seconds later, his rough lips crash onto mine. My eyes fly open. There is no escape that way. He leans into me even more, and one of his legs is between mine. His other hand runs up my thigh until it rests on my bottom. Tears flow as he continues to kiss me so hard that it almost hurts. My shoulders and wrists dig into grooves in the locker, and they feel like they could be close to bleeding.

Out of nowhere, I hear footsteps. Ryder must hear them too, because he pulls away and drops my hands.

"Don't even think about going anywhere," he warns, "We aren't done yet."

That is when I recognize who is coming down the hallway. It's Kaden. Like my boyfriend Kaden.

 _Shoot._

When he reaches us, he looks from me to Ryder and back to me before cradling my cheek and pulling me close.

"I don't know what happened yet, Brinley, but first I need to know that you are okay," he prompts, pulling me off of him and wiping away my tears.

"He-he pushed me against the wall, and then-then he-he-he kissed me, and I-I wanted to tell you but he said he would-he would hurt you, and I was scared, and-" I start, trying to explain so he doesn't get mad.

"Shh, shh, it's ok now. I'll protect you. Next time, you can tell me. He can't hurt me more than it hurts to see you like this," he comforts me.

"Now I have to go find him to teach him a lesson," he explains as I notice that Ryder is long gone, "I suggest that you come with me so that nothing else can happen to you while I'm gone."

We walk together around the halls until we find Ryder trying to hide from us around a corner. It feels good to see him this weak instead of myself for a change.

"Look, man, she threw herself at me," he tries to cover, "I couldn't do anything."

"Good try, but her pinned against a locker with scrapes and bruises doesn't check out with your story," Kaden replies before Ryder punches him in the jaw.

Kaden's hand moves to his face in surprise as the other moves me behind him to protect me. Ryder looks scared now that he didn't think about the consequences of his actions. Ryder isn't wimpy, but he's got nothing on Kaden's height and strength.

Kaden throws a punch straight to his gut before throwing another blow to his nose. The first blood is Kaden's victory. By now, a small crowd has gathered, and Kaden has pushed me away from him a bit for my safety.

I find Ashley next to me, and she just hugs me to her. After a couple of seconds, I find that Kaden has a gash above his left eyebrow that is bleeding, and some drips into his eye. He is holding his side with his left arm. He must have taken a rib shot. Ryder is in much worse condition, but I can't bear to see Kaden like that.

Ashley tries to hold me back, but I break through her grip. I rush in between the two, trying to break up the fight, but I don't see Kaden's fist hurling towards me.

I don't even realize that I have been hit until I fall to the floor. Immediately, they stop throwing punches, and Kaden rushes to me.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asks. He seems worried.

"Yeah, those stars are pretty, don't you think?" I question. These twinkling orbs are quite beautiful.

"Look, you've got to stay awake, ok?" he demands, but the darkness seems so soft and warm.

I giggle a bit, "Goodnight."

And the darkness consumes me.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

I feel myself slowly regain consciousness. At first, I am unable to move, but after a bit, I think I can move my fingers. I feel a hand in mine. It is warm and soft. I hear a voice.

"Please wake up, B," the voice begs.

 _I am awake._

Did I think that or say it? I don't hear a response that fits it, so I assume that I thought it. I think I can open my eyes now. With a great deal of effort, they flutter open a bit, only to slam shut again when I am nearly blinded by the flashing white light.

The person belonging to the voice, who I now have established to be Kaden squeezes my hand.

"Sorry. I didn't think about the lights. Give me a minute," he says and I hear some rustling around.

"There you go. Better?" he has turned off the lights and closed the curtains.

I try to say something, but I find that I can't. I settle for a nod.

 _Weird, why can't I talk?_

I try, but once again, I can't speak. Kaden seems to notice.

"Shh, don't try too hard. You've been out for a day, so you'll wake up slowly," he comforts me.

 _What?! A whole day?! How?_

"I'll explain the details later, but my punch knocked you out for a short bit, but they put you under for a little longer to check if you had a concussion or anything," he explains.

I nod again. I decide to try to speak again. I only get a squeak.

"That's progress," Kaden chuckles.

"Shut up," I manage to shakily force out.

"Wow, the first words you say to me are shut up. I'm not that bad, am I?" he jokes.

I roll my eyes and am about to speak when a man dressed in a long white leather coat comes in. He wears a fashionable pair of jeans and a black shirt underneath, a doctor's uniform.

"Hello, Ms. Glass. My name is Dr. Rain, and I am so happy to see you awake," he greets me, "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad, actually," I answer in a more steady voice.

"Good, good," he replies while he writes on a chart in his hands.

"Dr. Rain," I get his attention.

"Yes, Ms. Glass?" he offers.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what happened.

"I can't explain what happened before you arrived here, but your boyfriend here rushed you into this hospital. He carried you all the way here," he begins, and I glance at Kaden and smile, "He said something about you getting hit by accident. You were starting to regain consciousness when we put you under to do some scans. You see, if something is wrong with your head, such as a concussion, we want to find out before you wake up, if possible."

"Wait, is something wrong?" I am getting worried.

"Well, Ms. Glass, you have a minor concussion. You may expect to experience migraines for awhile and your price has unfortunately gone down to $684. We did all that we could, but this is the unfortunate truth," he answers.

"We have also found something else about you. Normally, this young man would have to leave, but I am fairly certain that you would tell him as soon as you could anyway, so I will allow him to stay," he starts, "There are two very destructive forces that were a major part of humanity before the Revolt and Essira. Those are complete forgiveness and unconditional love. You probably do not notice, but you have somehow been able to access the part of your brain that most people cannot unless they are outside of the Gate. This controls those functions. I am afraid that these are very dangerous qualities, and we will have to operate to save you from them."

When he finishes, I am speechless. I have only recently found out that I am special and learned that I can teach people to love others, and they are going to take that away from me.

"I understand, Dr. Rain," I lie.

Arguing will not help anything at this point, "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Now make sure to get enough rest, and we have you on fluids to help with migraines during your time here," he says before leaving.

I look down at my right arm. I had not even noticed the tube there before.

I worriedly look up to Kaden.

"What are we going to do?" I ask.

"I don't know, but I know that you are not getting that operation, because you are our last hope. Without you, this world will collapse. The doctor mentioned that love and forgiveness are sometimes destructive, but he failed to mention that they are at the core of every human's identity," he tries to help.

The doctor had said something about my price lowering to $684. I direct my eyes down to my wrist to find that this did indeed occur.

"Kaden, you don't have to stay with me. I am worthless. I'm not even worth close to what you are," I reluctantly realize that Kaden probably doesn't want me anymore.

"Brinley, what are you talking about? You really think that I care about that kind of thing? I love you unconditionally. I don't care what people say about you or your looks. To me, you have always been priceless," he confesses to me.

His words echo in my head.

 _To me, you've always been priceless. Priceless. What does that mean? How could a person be without their price? Yet, Kaden says that I am priceless to him. Does that mean that I will never mean more or less to him than I do? Or does it mean that I am worth nothing?_

"What do you mean?" I say in my head.

"I mean that I don't care what other people say about you," Oops. That wasn't in my head, "Your wrist doesn't matter. I would have you over Lelahni C any day. You are beautiful on the outside, sure. But what really matters is how beautiful you are on the inside, how much you are loving, kind, caring, forgiving. I have messed up a million times, but you haven't left me. If anything, you deserve better than me. In fact, I know you deserve better than me. That's what I mean when I say that you are priceless, and I love you for it."

"I love you, too," I respond.

He has moved to a sitting position on the side of my bed. I pull him down next to me, so we lay facing each other. I pull him in for a kiss, but he resists.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I don't want to hurt you," he responds honestly.

"I'll be fine," I assure him.

I pull him in again, and he wraps an arm loosely around my waist, while the other grabs my hand. My other hand plays with the hair at the nape of his neck. Sparks fly everywhere. After a few moments, the hand that was playing with his hair moves down to hug him closer to me around his back. He pulls away and winces.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" I ask, concerned.

"I'm fine, just hurt a little. I forgot to tell you that I broke a rib," he explains calmly.

"Kaden! Why would you do that? Why didn't you tell me?" I demand.

"Well, you had a lot to deal with yourself, and it was worth it for you," he assures me, and I realize that it's all my fault he's hurt.

"I'm so sorry. If I had just been smarter, I would have realized that Ryder couldn't hurt you, and then he wouldn't have been able to fight you because you would take care of it right when I told you," I start rambling. It's all my fault.

"Shh, it's not your fault, and even though we fought over you, you are totally worth it to me. Losing you to someone else or knowing that you were going through Ryder abusing you like that is much worse of an idea to have than this broken rib. Any physical injury to me is better than seeing you broken down and hurt," he tells me.

He pulls me close.

"Now you should get some rest," he says after a couple minutes as he starts to get up.

I pull him back down, and he chuckles.

"Can you stay for a little while?" I ask him. I feel safer when he's around.

"Sure, anything for my girl," he responds.

He pulls me to him once again before crossing one arm over my body and using the other as a pillow for me.

I fall asleep safe in the arms of the guy that I love.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

I wake up hugging a pillow while my head explodes with pain. I barely stuff my face into the pillow before screaming in pain. Luckily, the pillow muffles it a good bit.

Suddenly, I find that the light is blinding and I feel a burning sensation in my throat. I just make it to the wastebasket by the door before puking my guts out. Each time I open my eyes after throwing up, I am once again hit by the sickening light, so I reach up to turn the lights out. The curtains are still closed from yesterday, but Kaden must have turned the lights on when he left.

 _Kaden? Where is he? He left me!_

I am extremely upset. I can barely keep from crying. I had thought that he had meant all of the stuff that he said last night, but I guess not.

I walk back over to my bed facing away from the door and curl up around the pillow, silent tears falling.

I sit like that for what was probably only a few minutes, but it feels like hours of misery to me. I suddenly hear the door being opened and footsteps. I don't even bother turning around to see who it is. Then the smell hits me. It's actually a smell that I usually love, chocolate, but now that I have a killer headache, anything makes me feel the need to vomit.

This time, I run for the toilet, since I can guess what's happening sooner than last time. After I throw up once, I hear a knock at the door, which, of course, makes me throw up again. Man, migraines really stink. Any bold sensory exposure makes me need to throw up. Loud sounds, bright sights, overpowering smells, and I can only imagine what would happen if I tried to taste anything. Touch seems to be fine, maybe the pain in my head overwhelms the nerves.

Another knock wakes me from my thoughts. Strangely, I don't vomit again. It's not that I don't have the urge, but that I have nothing to throw up. My stomach is empty.

"Yes?" I can barely get out.

 _It feels like knives through my eyes._

"Are you okay?" his voice sounds a lot like Kaden's.

 _Bullets through my temples._

"I think so, just a migraine," I reply to the man who sounds like Kaden.

 _The knives are twisting._

"B? Can I come in? I just want to help," that was Kaden's nickname for me.

 _Spears through my skull._

"Kaden?" I question. It can't be. He left me.

 _Arrows through my forehead._

"Yeah, B. I tried to get you chocolate for breakfast, since they only let us have non-color-coded stuff during hospital stays and stuff, but then you ran to the bathroom," he explains.

 _Nothing. Instead of pain, I see an image behind my eyelids. Two people on a blanket together, laughing and holding hands. All of a sudden, rain clouds fill the sky, and shadows attack the couple from all sides. For a second, I cannot tell what happens, until all color from the previously red blanket fades, and the couple transform into shadows._

I open my eyes, and it's gone.

"I-I had a migraine, but it just went away," I tell him.

 _Did Kaden make it go away? How? And what was that?_

"Didn't they have you on something for that?" he inquires.

 _I look down to my arm, and the tube isn't there._

"They must have disconnected it," I make a guess.

"Look, as much as I enjoy this conversation, could either I come in or you come out, because I don't love this door in the way?" Kaden asks.

"I'll come out," I respond.

As soon as I exit the bathroom, I fling myself around his shoulders.

"What was that for?" he asks.

"I thought you left me. When I woke up," I explain, "you weren't there, and I thought that you just hadn't wanted to tell me that you didn't want me anymore because my price went down."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't think you would wake up anytime soon, especially not with a migraine, and I wanted to surprise you with breakfast. I would never leave you, I love you for your inside worth, not face value," he apologizes.

"It's okay," I accept his apology.

I blush slightly at his confession, "And I love you, too."

I press a quick kiss to his lips. I had intended to, anyways, before he tightly grabs me around the waist and backs me up against the wall. He puts his hands next to my head, and mine rest on his chest, playing with his collared unbuttoned shirt. We kiss for awhile until he tries to slip one of his legs between mine, and the memory of when Ryder pinned me against a locker floods back. I pull away as best as I can and look downwards to the left.

"What's wrong?" Kaden asks.

"I-I just-It reminded me of Ryder," his eyes harden at the name, "When you found us, he was kissing me against a locker with one of his legs between mine, and-"

"Hey, it's ok. I get that something bad happened to you, and that messes with people, so if you ever need to, just tell me to stop. I always will," he assures me as he backs off, "I would rather wait until you're comfortable with me again than scare you or lose you on accident."

"Thanks, Kaden. I don't think I usually mind, just that was a lot like what happened," I explain.

"I get it. That's ok," he tries to make me feel better, but I know that he is secretly at least a little upset.

"Hey, so-we haven't even been on a real date yet, so do you want to go out with me sometime? We could go to the mall for dinner, hit the shops for a bit if you want, and then head to my place for a movie," he offers, hands in his pockets.

"That sounds awesome. Why do you look nervous? Of course I would say yes," I reply.

"I don't know. I just was nervous," he honestly says.

We both laugh. I'm not really sure why couples go out for dinner. Pretty much all food is the same. Green food tastes like green food, yellow food tastes like yellow food, etc. no matter where you eat it. I guess it is a traditional thing to do.

"What do you say we go tomorrow?" he asks.

"Sure, I'm free, so long as they let me out of here, anyways," I answer.

"It's a date, then," he says.

Yay! I'm so excited for my date with Kaden tomorrow!

For some reason, though, that vision I had when Kaden showed up won't get out of my head. It's as though he brought it on, but it had nothing to do with him. I feel like I should tell him, but I quickly dismiss the thought, not wanting to worry him more over my condition.

Kaden says that he has to leave to go shopping, so we give each other a quick goodbye kiss.

Seconds later, I hear a knock at my hospital door. I open it to find my parents. They look concerned, but not as worried as Kaden did.

 _That's weird. Don't they love me?_

 _They don't_.

The realization hits me hard. They can't. That part of their brain doesn't work. In fact, I bet that they are disappointed in me, now that I have gotten a concussion.

I wave them in, and they take a seat across from my bed.

"How are you feeling?" Mom asks.

"Fine, the doctors have been nice," I explain.

"Good," Dad responds.

"Why was Kaden walking out of your hospital room? We passed him inn the halls," Mom asks another question.

"What? My boyfriend can't visit-" I clap my hands over my mouth, realizing what I have just told them.

"And when did this happen?" my father asks.

"Last week," my voice has become a whisper.

Mom lets out a high-pitched scream. Dad rolls his eyes at that.

 _What? Shouldn't they be mad that I didn't tell them?_

"We are so proud of you!" Dad states.

"My daughter has a boyfriend!" Mom exclaims.

I just smile shyly.

"It took you long enough," Dad says.

"We were worried that no one would want you," Mom explains.

 _Ouch. Funny, a few weeks ago, before I knew what love was, that wouldn't have hurt._

"And probably no one else of his value will, so you cannot lose him," my father says.

"Even if you don't like him, he will look good for the family, and our prices will go up, so you guys have to get married," Mom states.

"I-I like him," I respond.

"Good, then that's not a problem," she smiles.

 _What does she mean? Did she not marry for love? Does love mean nothing to her?Never mind, I know the answer._

"Well, we have to go shopping, see you later," Dad states.

"I'll pick you up whatever the best I can find is," Mom offers.

"Thanks, you are the best," I tell both of them with a hug for each.

They exit and I lay down for a nap, exhausted by that conversation.

I fall asleep with a smile on my face, anxiously awaiting my date with Kaden.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch. 14

When I wake up in the morning, the room is empty, so I decide to take a look around. I move over to my right, where a counter with cabinets is located. I suspect that I will find nothing of interest in the cabinets, just medical tools and gloves, but I'm bored and there's nothing else to do.

There are two cabinets above the counter. One is empty except for some scraps of paper the size of my palm. I pull them out, and their edges look as if they were torn from some larger paper. There is nothing printed on the faded material, so I have no idea why they would bother quick-growing a tree to produce this, especially when a Tab doesn't fade and tear like paper.

For some reason, I feel like I should keep the papers, so I set them under a cloth on the counter. Paper is rare, so they would probably take it if they knew that I had it.

I close that cabinet door and move to the next one. It slides to the right with a slight _whish_ sound when I press the open button. As I suspected, this cabinet has only gloves and sanitizing cloths.

 _Nothing to see here_.

I hit the close button, a small red one just below the green open button of the same size on the edge of the white cabinet.

Beneath the counter are three more similar cabinets. I continue my search the same way as I had before, finding the first two cabinets to be void of anything interesting or useful. I move on to the third and final cabinet.

As I open the door, my Tab is revealed. I have never been so happy to see my Tab.

I quickly snatch it up and sit back down on the bed. I type up a couple quick messages to my teachers saying that I will get the assignments from friends and that I should be back soon.

Next, I message my mom to ask how shopping went. It should be her shift at work, but when it isn't busy at the mall, she can use her Tab. And maybe they'll let her anyways since I'm in the hospital.

A reply seconds later tells me that business is slow today, as it usually is after Sunday, when most people shop. Although the stores all do alterations and similar services throughout the week along with normal sales, it is uncommon to be very busy this soon in the week.

Ashley. She probably wants to hear from me. Her parents don't let her do much after school or on the weekends other than party, so I'm not surprised she hasn't been here. I send her a quick note: "Hey Ash! Just letting you know I'm alright. See you soon!"

I am about to write my next message when my Tab alerts me about an incoming message. Two messages now. Maybe Ashley. She often replies in two parts. I open the notification. One message is from Ash, but the other is from an unknown Tab. That's weird. How did they get my Tab Code?

I open Ashley's note first, still cautious of the other one, "Hi Brin! So glad to hear you're okay. Kaden told me when you woke up, but nice to hear from you. I'm going to a party in a tonight if you guys want to come! Actually, you guys have to come! I've found a guy to go with and I'm super nervous about being without you so you have to be there. Pick you up in two hours. Oh, and semi-formal."

"Sounds fun! I'll tell Kay!" I reply, although I feel like there's some reason I can't go.

 _Probably just tired from the head injury. Besides, parents love it when their kids party. Dad will love it!_

I am hesitant to, but I open the unknown message, "Brinley, it's Ryder. I just wanted to apologize because I know what I did was really stupid. Please don't ignore me forever. I was just jealous of Kaden but I realize that we can't be together now, but I don't want to completely lose you from my life. Feel better soon. I'm so sorry."

I don't reply. I can't. What do I say to that? ' _Oh yeah, I totally get it. Just a misunderstanding_ ' or ' _No, it's totally fine, let's make up_ '? As these thoughts run through my head, I feel tears start to fall and my vision to get blurry.

After a minute or so, I wipe my eyes and pick my Tab back up to tell Kaden about the party. I send him a summary of what Ash sent me, and he sends me back, "B? I thought we had a date tonight."

 _Shoot._

"I forgot, I'm sorry. With everything going on, it's too much to remember it all, and I told her we would be there. I'm so sorry, Kaden. But I think Ashley really needs us, and we haven't spent much time with her lately. Can we have our date another time. This could be a date. It'll still be fun," I send back.

 _How could I forget my date with Kaden?_

"It's alright, B. We'll go. See you in a few? The doctors told your parents that you could leave this morning. Your parents asked if I would pick you up, so I'll be there soon," he replies.

"Ok. Thanks. I mean sorry," I send him.

Alright, now I have to make myself look decent. In the bathroom, I find that my parents must have left me some clothes and shoes, but I can only find mascara and black eyeliner lying around the bathroom. They must keep this here for people who didn't bring any.

I brush my hair out with a brush that was on the counter and put on the clothes. They are tight ripped jean shorts and a white over-the-shoulder top. I pair it with a blue and turquoise necklace and blue heels with a strap and bow around my ankle. I do the best that I can with a cat-eye look when I feel another headache coming on.

It feels like yesterday's did, but today I don't feel any urge to throw up, which is better. But I start sweating a lot on my forehead.

I walk out of the bathroom and get the cloth that was on the counter. When I pick it up, I shove the paper scraps in my pocket and walk back to the sink. I dampen the cloth with cool water and lay back on the bed. My medicine supply is not connected anymore, so there is no relief in that.

After what feels like hours of agony, but is probably minutes, I hear a knock. I must mumble a 'come in' or something, because Kaden steps in the door, smiling when he sees me, before his eyes turn to panic at my obvious pain.

He rushes over and places a soft hand on my cheek.

 _At his touch, all pain fades, and my eyes close in relief. But what is now before me is not relieving, or comforting. I see a little girl. She has beautiful golden hair and sea-blue sparkling, lively eyes. Her face is dotted with freckles. I look down to find her in a gorgeous sun-kissed-orange dress that flows to her knees, and her feet show simple brown sandals that are so beautiful. I instantly look at her wrist. She must be worth so much already, but her wrist has no number. I look back up to her face, confused, but she is crying, it seems. Her tears fall slowly, and as they do, she disappears. With one final tear, all that remains of her is a memory._

I open my eyes. Kaden stares deeply into them before running his thumb over my temple.

"You okay?" he prompts.

"Yeah, I think so," I reply, despite the vision I just had.

My head feels better, but what is this connection between Kaden and my headaches? This just keeps getting weirder.

"Alright, then let's get you out of here. You need to get ready for that party," he suggests.

We fill out a couple of forms, although my parents have done most of it, and I am free to go. We leave the hospital hand-in-hand and walk home. It is only a short ways, about the distance from the hovershuttle stop.

When we arrive at our homes, Kaden gives me a quick goodbye kiss. I try to keep him longer, but he insists that we have to get ready. I know he's right, we only have an hour to get ready, but I love spending time with him.

I can't wait for the party!


End file.
